A. Field of Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses for a lawn mower having a power head main frame and a sub-frame.
B. Description of the Related Art
Currently in the art of lawn mowers, zero turn ride on mowers are well known and are designed so that the traction drive transmission components are individually mounted on the main frame. A series of holes in the mounting surface are provided to accommodate a variety of components. The individual hydraulic pumps and left and right traction motors are mounted separately on the frame to accommodate various sizes and configurations of mowers. Accordingly, when assembling a mower, the hydraulic pumps and left and right traction motors are mounted on the main frame, adjusted for alignment, and connected with the rear engine on the main frame. This piece-by-piece assembly is time consuming and requires the skills of trained personnel.
Another problem arises when mowers need to be repaired in the field. When the main frame is bent or broken the current practice has been to replace the complete main frame assembly. This is costly from a labor and materials standpoint. Also if individual pumps or traction motors need to serviced and repaired, difficulties have been encountered gaining access to the product fittings, mounting hardware, and hydraulic pumps.
The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for reducing these problems. The difficulties that are inherit in the art are therefore overcome in a way that is simple and efficient, while providing better and more advantageous results.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the lawn mower includes a main frame, a sub-frame mounted on the main frame, traction motors mounted on the sub-frame and having shafts for driving engagement with wheels of the mower, hydraulic pumps mounted on the sub-frame, pump drive pulleys mounted on the pumps, a main frame mower driven pulley mounted on the main frame, and pump belts trained around the pump pulleys and the mower-drive pulley.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sub-frame assembly for mounting on a lawn mower main frame comprising parallel spaced apart end plates, connecting rods between the end plates, and traction motors mounted on the end plates for supporting drive wheels of the mower.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of installing a sub-frame assembly on a main frame of a mower having a power source is provided wherein traction motors and wheels are mounted on the sub-frame apart from the main frame and the sub-frame with the traction motors is then fastened to the main frame and connected to the power source on the main frame.